(Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy)
A fresco made by the Italian artist Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337). This fresco part of a serie which is dedicated to te life of Joachim, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the virgin Mary, does not appear in the bible but comes from the apocryphal Gospel of James (an apocryphal Gospel is a writing about Jesus, God or the apostles which are not a part of the Bible). This scene shows the couple meeting at the city gate of Jerusalem. According to the story the couple were happily married and devoted to each other but without a child which was seen as a disgrace. Joachim was banished from the temple for having no child and fled into the mountains. An angel appeared before Anna and told her of her Immaculate Conception (Mary was born sinless - without the original sin, the sin of disobedience in consuming from the tree of knowledge of good and evil). The angel also told Anna to go to the city gate of Jerusalem were she would meet her husband Joachim. At the same time another angel appeared before Joachim and told him that Anna would have a child. Joachim rushed to Anna en the couple met at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. The couple embraced each other and rejoiced about the honor that their child would be a Queen on Heaven and Earth. Fresco from 1305.
